Car-seat.



E. G. BUDD.

CAR SEAT. APPLICATION FILED APR. 4, 1908.

Patented May 12, 1914 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ATTORNEY COLUMBIA PLANOORAI'H c0..wAsmNu'roN, D. c.

E. G. BUDD.

CAR SEAT.

APPLICATION IILEID A114, 1908.

Patented May 12, 1914.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

COLUMBIA MNOORAPH C0 WASHINGTON. D. c.

EDWARD G. BUDD, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE AS-SIGNMENTS, TO HALE AND KILBURN COMPANY, OF IHILADELPHIA, PENNSYL- VANIA,A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

CAR SEAT.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD Gr. Bum), acitizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county ofPhiladelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful In'iprovements in Car-Seats, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to reversible seats adapted particularly for usein railway cars.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved reversiblecar-seat so constructed that the angular inclination of the back cushionthereof may be adjusted as desired in either of the operative positionsof the hack and locked in the desired position.

The invention is of particular utility in a structure consisting of tworeversible seats arranged side by side and adapted to be mounted at oneside of the central aisle of a car and in which the reversal of thefacing direction of the seat is effected by moving the back-cushionacross the seat-cushion from one edge of the latter to the other ratherthan by rotating the seat structure as a whole through half arevolution.

In reversible car-seats it has been common heretofore to support theback-cushion on back-supporting arms arranged one at either edge of theback-cushion, the lower ends of these arms being supported upon theframe of the seat in such manner as will per-. mit movement thereof tocarry the backcushion from one edge to the other of the seat-cushion. Inaccordance with my invention this construction is employed and provisionis made for the adjustment of the inclination of the back-cushion bymaking each of these back-supporting arms in two parts which arepivotally connected so that their angular relation may be varied to varythe inclination of the back-cushion, a locking mechanism being providedfor holding the two parts of each of the back-supporting arms againstrelative movement when the back-cushion has been moved to the desired.position. By this construction the facing direction of the seat may bereversed in the usual manner by 'moving the back-cushion across theseat-cushion to one or the other of its operative positions, and when ineither of these positions, the inclination of the back-cushion may beadjusted by unlocking the devices which hold the two parts ofSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 4, 1908.

Patented May 12, 1914.

Serial No. 425,140.

the back-supporting arms against relative movement, moving the back asdesired and then locking those parts together. The passenger occupyingthe seat may thus adjust the back-cushion to the position most eonduciveto comfort. The seat thus constructed is strong compact, consists ofcomparatively few parts, may be manufactured at small cost, and may bereadily manipulated. \Vith this construction of areversible recliningseat, the further and important advantage is obtained that theback-cushion may be readily removed as when cleaning or repairing of thecushion is necessary.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the seat,broken away and sectioned in part, Figs. 2 and 3 are detail viewshereinafter referred to, Fig. 4 is a front view broken away andsectioned in part of a portion of the seat, Fig. 5 is a view of aportion of the backcushion removed from the seat, and Fig. 6 is a viewof the side of the locking mechanism opposite that shown in Fig. 5.

Referring to these drawings, the seat is supported at the aisle end on apedestal 1, on the upper end of which are secured two connecting-rails2, the opposite ends of these rails being secured to a plate 3 which ismounted upon the wall of the car or upon a pedestal similar to thepedestal 1 and lying between two adjacent seats. A plate 4: similar tothe plate 3 is fastened to the ends of the rails 2 at the aisle end ofthe seat and to this plate is secured a seat-end 5. The seat-cushion 6is supported at either end upon a rocker 7 having inclined surfaces onthe bottom thereof bearing upon the rails 2. Each of the rockers 7 has averticallydisposed groove 8 formed therein adapted to receive a studupon the lower end of a lever 9 which is mounted on a rod 10 pivoted inthe plates 3 and -i1: at the ends of the seat. Secured to each of theplates 3 and t is a. rail 11 having an integral web extendinghorizontally therefrom and curved in the direction of its length so asto form an areshaped guiding and si'lpporting rail for the arms orlevers carrying the back-cushion 12. These back-supporting arms aresecured to opposite edges of the back-cushion l2 and extend downwardlytherefrom and at their lower ends are provided with bifurcated lugs 13spaced apart as shown in Fig. 1 and straddling the arc-shaped web of oneof the rails 11. In each of the back-supporting levers is avertically-disposed slot 14 into which extends a stud or roller carriedby the upper end of the lever 9. It will be seen that by thisconstruction the facing direction of the seat may be reversed as desiredby pushing the back-cushion 12 from one edge of the seat-cushion 6 tothe other, the lugs 13 on the back-supporting levers coacting with thewebs on the rails 11 to guide the back in this movement; also in thismovement of the back-cushion, the seatcushion will be moved in adirect-ion oppo site to that in which the back is moved by means of thelevers 9 which coact at one end with the slots 14 in the back-supportinglevers and at the other end with the rockers 7 and in the movement ofthe seat-cushion its forward edge will be raised above its rearward edgedue to the inclined surfaces on the bottom of the rockers 7.

In order to permit of adjustment of the angular inclination of theback-cushion when the latter is in either of its operative positions,each of the back-supporting levers consists of two parts which arepivotally connected and a locking mechanism is provided between the twoparts of each of these levers. The two parts of the backsupportinglevers are indicated by the numerals 15 and 16. The part 16 is securedto the edge of the back-cushion and extends downwardly therefrom, itslower end be ing bifurcated and the bifurcated arms extending one oneither side of a stud 17 on the part 15. If desired, a pin 18 may beprovided extending through openings in the bifurcated arms to preventthe parts 16 from rising off the studs 17. The two parts of theback-supporting levers are thus pivotally connected. The upper edge ofeach of the parts 15 is curved on the arc of a circle about the stud 17as a center and in the edge of this curved portion are provided aplurality of semi-circular notches 19. At the ends of this curvedportion the metal is extended upwardly a slight distance beyond the lineof the curve as shown at 20. At the lower edge of the back-cushion andeither passing through the cushion or lying adjacent to its lower edgeis a rod 21 the ends of which extend through openings in the parts 16 ofthe two back-supporting levers, this rod being adapted to turn in theseopenings. In the rod 21 adjacent to each of the parts 16, a slot is cutso that the rod is reduced to a semicircle in cross-section at thesepoints (Figs. 2, 8 and 4t) thelength of these slots in the direction ofthe length of the rod being substantially equal to the width of theparts 15 of the back-supporting levers. Secured to one end of the rod 21is a suitable collar and in the other end is a pinion 2-3 which mesheswith a sector-gear 24 formed on a lever 25 which is pivotally mountedupon the part 16 of the back-supporting lever at that edge of theback-cushion. A spiral spring 26 is wound around the pivot of this leverand has one end connected to the lever and the other connected to thepart 16. A casing 27 is secured to the part 15 and overlies the pinion23 and the sector-gear 24 as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, this casing beingprovided with a slot in the upper edge thereof through which the end oflever 25 extends to permit of grasping the end of the lever andoperating it to effect rotation of rod 21 by means of the gearingagainst the tension of spring 26.

The normal positions of the parts are those indicated in Figs. 1 and 2,the lever 25 being turned on its pivot by spring 26 to the positionshown and the rod 21 being turned to such position that the solidportions of the rod at the points where the latter is slotted beinglowermost and lying within the central notches 19 in the upper edges ofthe parts 15. hen in this position, rod 21 serves as a lock between thetwo parts of each of the back-supporting levers so that these partscannot be moved relatively when the rod is in this position and theback-cushion may be moved across the seat-cushion in the manner above.described in order to reverse the facing direction of the seat. If, whenthe back-cushion is in one of its operative positions, it is desired tovary the inclination of the back, the operator grasps the end of thelever 25 extending through the slot in the gear-casing 27 and turns thelever on its pivot against the tension of spring 26, thus effectingrotation of rod 21. through 180 degrees, at which time the movement oflever 25 will be arrested by a suitable stop or by the end of the slotin the gear-casing 27. When rod 21 has been thus rotated the solidportions thereof at the points where the rod is slotted will beuppermost, as shown in Fig. 3, and will lie above the curved upper edgesof the parts 15 of the back-supporting levers. The two parts of eachofthe back-supporting levers are thus unlocked and the back-cushion may bemoved as desired about the studs 17 as pivots to such position as isdesired, X cessive movement being precluded by the extensions 20 at theupper corners of the parts 15. Then on releasing lever 25, spring 26will turn the lever, pinion 23 and rod 21 until the solid portions ofthe rod at the points where the latter is slotted enter the notches inthe parts 15 and again lock the two parts of the back-supporting armsagainst relative movement.

It wlll, therefore, be seen that in this manner a seat structure 18provided inwhi'ch the facing direction of the seat is reversible bymovement of the back-cushion across the seat-cushion, that theinclination of the back-cushion may be adjusted as desired to theposition which the occupant of the seat finds most comfortable, and thatthis adjustment is obtained by making the back-supporting arms in twoparts which are pivotally connected and which may be moved relatively asdesired and then looked in the position to which they are adjusted. Themechanism for effecting these movements is simple and compact and theseat may be manufactured at small cost. It will also be seen that theback-cushion may be readily removed by withdrawing the pins 18 and thenlifting the back-cushion and the parts 16 of the two back-supportingarms secured thereto, upward until the bifurcated arms at the lower endsof the parts 16 disengage the pins 17. A portion of the back-cushioniemoved thus from the seat is shown in Preferably, the seat is soconstructed as not to require that the two parts of each back-supportingarm be accurately positioned relatively in order that the lockingmechanism may be moved to operative position since one edge of theback-cushion is apt to lag behind the other in moving from one positionto another due to an irregularity in the construction and to the pointof application of the force for moving the back. Thus the parts of onearm may be moved relatively a slight amount while permitting movement ofthe locking mechanism at that end of the seat to locking position, sothat during such movement the parts of the other arm may be brought toposition permitting movement of the locking mechanism at that end of theseat to operative position. Moreover, it will be seen that the lockingdevices at both edges of the seat move into and out of operativeposition simultaneously so that there is no possibility of subjectingthe back-cushion to a severe strain by looking it at one side of theseat and not the other.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a seat, a back-cushion, two backsupporting arms therefor eachformed of two parts which are pivotally connected, a rod extendingbetween said arms, a pinion on said rod, a gear meshing therewith, means7 for actuating said gear to turn said pinion and rod, and meansactuated by said rod when turned for permitting or precluding relativemovement of the parts of each of said arms, substantially as described.

2. In a seat, a back-cushion, back-supporting arms therefor each formedof two parts which are pivotally connected, a rod extending between saidarms, a pinion on said rod, a gear meshing therewith, a casing overlyingsaid gearing, a spring connected to said rod for actuating the same, anda handle on the rod for turning the latter against the tension of thespring, said rod being adapted to permit or preclude relative movementof the two parts of each of said arms, substantially as described.

This specification signed and witnessed this 24 day of January, 1908.

EDVARD G. BUDD.

Witnesses:

P. J. TUCKER, R. M. FRIES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

